


Brother, Let Me Be Your Fortress

by canonkillsmyships



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben is a Good Brother, Brothers, Diego is a Good Brother, Gen, Klaus needs a hug, My First AO3 Post, Post-Season/Series 01, Siblings, Time Travel, hargreeves was a bad dad, he gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 19:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17883977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canonkillsmyships/pseuds/canonkillsmyships
Summary: After Five takes all his siblings back to before he left, Diego vows to be a better brother.He starts with Klaus.





	Brother, Let Me Be Your Fortress

**Author's Note:**

> When the night winds are driving on  
> Be the one to light the way  
> Bring you home  
> ~Brother, NEEDTOBREATHE
> 
> This is my very first work on AO3, and I'm super excited to be contributing to such a new fandom. I've written and posted fanfic before, and recieved great feedback so now I'm finally posting over on here.
> 
> Enjoy this fanfic about Klaus finally getting the love he deserves!

It was strange, being back in the bodies of their thirteen-year-old selves. Diego hated the fact that they were stuck in their old routine, training almost every second of the day and eating in silence. Almost every night they all crept into one of their bedrooms, usually Luther’s, to sit and discuss how they were going to change the future – mainly they spent their time figuring out ways to include Vanya in their training and trying to show her that they truly did care about her.

Diego knew Klaus still struggled with his sobriety, but he also knew that having Ben be there physically to comfort and guide him was a great help in that. He only wished that he could do more for Klaus, that he had done more for Klaus the first time around, and he swore to himself he wouldn’t let his brother down this time.

The best part was that Ben was alive. The second they landed in the academy, some 17 years before their time, Ben was enveloped in a group hug and had nearly been crushed by Luther’s strength. There had been tears in everyone’s eyes and even Klaus, who had been the only one capable of seeing Ben after his death, was crying as he finally hugged his brother after 17 years of walking straight through him.

Life was simple, and quiet. The siblings spent their time healing themselves and each other after their painful experiences of adulthood. They finally felt like a family, and they rarely spent a minute apart from at least one of the others. 

And that’s why when Klaus hadn’t been seen all day and didn’t appear for dinner one night, Diego knew something was wrong.

“Where’s Klaus?” Diego asked, when their father appeared, and they were seated at the dining table.

“No talking at dinner, Number 2.” He said dismissively.

“Where is Klaus?” Diego said more firmly. He could see Ben staring at their father nervously and wondered what he knew. Allison and Luther were sharing concerned looks and Five looked as unbothered as ever. Vanya was looking vacantly down at her plate, as if she wasn’t even listening to the conversation.

“Number 4 is partaking in special training. He must get over his fear of his own power. He will return on Monday.” Their father replied stiffly, “Now, no more question Number 2. Eat.”

It was silent for a couple of minutes before Ben suddenly jolted up to stare at their father.

“You’ve locked him up, haven’t you?” For a moment, their father’s face fell, and he looked taken aback.

“Number 6! No speaking at the table, or else you shall have to miss dinner.” He looked furious, and Diego felt uneasy at their father’s reaction to the questioning.

“You have, haven’t you!” Ben looked murderous, and everyone leant back in their seats in concern. “You must know what it does to him? It only makes his fear worse, and it is cruel to treat him that way. He is probably freezing right now. You complain about his habits, yet you only enforce them when you do this!” 

Diego had a sudden flash in his mind, a memory of Klaus asleep in the back of his car, whimpering about the cold and begging for someone to ‘leave him alone’ and ‘let him out’. He had simply assumed that Klaus was having a nightmare about being kidnapped, however one thing had never made sense. Klaus had been mumbling about their father and he had mentioned the word mausoleum several times. Only now had Diego realised what that had meant.

“He’s in the mausoleum, isn’t he?” Diego whispered. Allison let out a quiet gasp and Luther tensed in his chair, the arms creaking beneath his hands. Even Five looked disgusted at the thought. Diego watched as Vanya ran her eyes around the table, and thought he saw a flash of white – the only evidence she was listening to their conversation - before she went back to staring at her plate.

Their father’s silence was his answer.

Diego threw his chair back and flew from the room, racing past Pogo, who tried to slow him with an arm out, and a “Master Diego, please…” that he ignored. He was vaguely aware of Ben, hot on his heels as he raced to the door that led to the courtyard – and the mausoleum that rested in the far corner.

He reached the door and tugged on the handle desperately, hoping to break the rusty padlock that held it closed. Ben reached him and tried to help, but their efforts were met with nothing but a jangle of the chain and the slow scrape of the door as they fought against its restraints.

“Luther!” Diego yelled, “Luther, break the chain!”

While they waited for Luther to help them, Diego thumped his fist against the door.

“Klaus? Klaus, can you hear me? We’re going to get you out, ok?” Ben and Diego backed away as Luther reached them and shattered the chain with a single yank, forcing the door open with the same strength. 

Diego barely waited for it to open before he was inside, taking in the image of Klaus huddled in the corner and screaming for help, something he would never forget. He hesitated for a moment, before he was kneeling next to his brother and cradling him to his chest. 

“Shh, it’s ok now, I’ve got you.” 

Using strength he didn’t know he had, Diego lifted Klaus into his arms and carried him out of the mausoleum, striding past their siblings and flat out ignoring their father. Diego didn’t let go of Klaus until he was settled snuggly into his bed, Ben wrapped around him and whispering soothing words into his ear.

Despite his unwillingness to leave his brother, Diego quickly scanned the room for anywhere Klaus could have hidden drugs or alcohol, and upon finding a baggie under the bed, left the room to dispose of it. He found himself stomping towards the main lounge, where he found Allison crying into Luther’s chest and Vanya sitting beside Five, both looking undisturbed. Pogo was hovering in the doorway, as if unsure he would be welcomed to comfort the children. 

Not finding the one he wanted, Diego stormed back out and found his way to their father’s office. 

There he sat, calmly behind his desk, writing in a notebook and looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. It only fuelled Diego’s anger. 

“If you ever do something like that again, I won’t hesitate to put a blade through your throat.” 

Hargreeves, for he was no longer any kind of father to Diego, didn’t respond, and it only added heat to the fire.

“LOOK AT ME!” Hargreeves paused and glanced up at Diego before returning to his work.

“I heard you, Number 2. No need to yell.” He wrote one more thing in his notebook before closing it and setting it aside. “I am finished with this kind of training anyway. Number 4 will recover. You may see yourself out now.”

Diego glared at Hargreeves, before turning to leave. He had only taken a single step when he was cut off by a voice.

“Number 2. If you dare threaten me again, I’ll see to it that Number 4 spends a week in the mausoleum. Don’t test me.”

Diego didn’t bother to turn around and simply kept walking. He paused once more at the door.

“I hate you.” It may have seemed petty and childish, and god damnit Diego was a thirty-year-old man he should be over this, but he’d never gotten the chance to say it before Hargreeves kicked the bucket. With that, he left the office and headed towards the bedrooms.

After all, he had a little brother to comfort.


End file.
